PSG: The Paris mansions on Lionel Messi, Antonela Roccuzzo's radar

Since Lionel Messi arrived at Paris Saint-Germain following his traumatic departure from Barcelona, the focus has, unsurprisingly, been on the sporting side of things. But now the Argentine has settled into training to prepare for his debut for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, he and his family’s thoughts have inevitably turned to other aspects of his move to Paris.

Top of the to-do list right now for Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, is to find a school for their three sons and a home in the French capital. And given that where they live may well play a big role in determining where their children go to school, in recent days they have stepped up their efforts to identify the ideal house.

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Messi and Roccuzzo unsure whether to rent or buy in Paris

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, Paris’ luxury estate agents are working overtime to come up with the perfect option for Messi and his family, who are unsure whether to rent or buy. PSG are also helping them to find a home, but Messi and Roccuzzo don’t want to rush into anything and may well end up opting to rent, given their stay in France is only expected to be temporary.

“They want to be treated like any client,” Antonin Thomas of Daniel-Féau, an agency that has already found solutions for some of Messi’s club-mates, told the publication. “They want the same as they have in Barcelona - a contemporary house with a very clean look, one that doesn’t need any work done on it and has a garden and a swimming pool. A pool isn’t easy to find in the Parisian market, particularly when it comes to rental properties.”

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Neuilly-sur-Seine

Le Parisien says the location where Messi and co are most likely to set up home is Neuilly-sur-Seine, an area in west Paris, given its proximity to some of the schools that are being looked at for Thiago, Mateo and Ciro. Its ease of access to the Parc des Princes and the Camp des Loges - PSG’s stadium and training ground, respectively - is also a factor in its favour. Indeed, Roccuzzo has already viewed an 813-square-metre mansion with more than 300 square metres of garden space, a gym and an indoor pool, valued at 25 million euros. The best thing about this option is that one of their sons’ prospective schools is just 200 metres away.

Messi and Roccuzzo have also been offered a 1,300-square-metre pad with a 1,370-square-metre garden, valued at 20 million euros. “What they’re looking for is discretion, calm and privacy,” Laure de La Riviére of Barnes, another estate agency consulted by the pair, revealed to Le Parisien. The property includes a mansion with four suites, a guest house with two suites, an apartment for staff, a four-car garage, a gym, a massage room, a home theatre, an indoor pool, a sauna and a wine cellar.

Jardin du Ranelagh

There are, of course, plenty of other areas in Paris to consider. Several players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who lived close to the Arc du Triomphe, and Thiago Silva, who chose Villa Montmorency, five minutes from the Parc des Princes, are examples of that. Given how close it is to the PSG stadium and training ground, Villa Montmorency is another district that may well be to Messi and Roccuzzo’s liking, and one property close to the Jardin du Ranelagh is a particularly outstanding candidate. It’s a 952-square-metre mansion that has a tree-lined garden measuring 1,373 square metres, as well as numerous terraces, and is worth 25 million euros. It’s located close to the Rue de Passy, Rue de la Muette and Avenue Mozart, where there are a whole host of shops and restaurants.

Triel-sur-Seine

Messi and his family are also not ruling out moving a little further into the outskirts in search of the peaceful lifestyle they had in Barcelona, and could go for Yvelines, an area to the north-west of Paris in which the PSG training ground is also situated. Several players, including Neymar, live close to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, located in Yvelines, but the distance from the city may be a drawback. Although Messi and Roccuzzo value their privacy, they wouldn’t have as many services close at hand. In this area, of particular note is a 500-square-metre home in Triel-sur-Sine, some 20 minutes by car from the Camp des Loges. A modern house that has the latest in home-automation technology, it has 250 square metres of terraces and over 1,500 square metres of gardens that run down towards the Seine.

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Its 10 rooms, including six bedrooms, should be enough to house both the family and their guests. A gym, home cinema, three large wine cellars and ample parking space complete this exceptional property, which is valued at 2.8 million euros. That’s significantly cheaper than the other options, although, clearly, money isn’t an issue for the house hunters.